Nikon Action VII 10×40 Binoculars: Good Value?
August 2, 2010 | Posted by Best Binocular Reviews 
This weeks question comes from someone that has a small budget looking for some advice on the Nikon Action VII 10×40 Binoculars and if they will work well for coastal views:
Question
I have recently relocated to a coastal resort where the scenery is constantly changing and we are lucky enough to have local marine life like our resident seal. I would love to purchase a pair of binoculars so that I may enjoy it more. I only have a small budget and have seen a pair of Nikon Action VII 10×40 Binoculars, that seem ideal for a novice like myself. Would you recommend these for a first time buyer who has absolutely no idea what features to look for?
Answer
I have just had a look at their stats and these are a few of the things I have noticed:
Things I like about the Nikon Action VII 10×40 Binoculars
- I like the fact that thy have aspherical eyepiece lenses that decrease distortion when compared to normal eyepieces.
- I like your choice of a powerful 10x magnification for wide open areas like places with coastal views.
- The price is pretty good
What I don’t like about the Nikon 10×40 Action VII Binoculars
I am a little concerned about how well they will perform in poor light conditions as they have slightly smaller than usual objective lens diameters – The Nikon Action VII 10×40 has 40mm’s whilst most full size binoculars usually have 42mm ones. What this means is that a 10×40 binocular has an Exit Pupil of 4.0 and a Twilight Factor of 20, for comparison a more standard 10×42 binocular is 4.2 and 20.5, which is only slightly different, but would mean that a 10×42 should perform slightly better in low light conditions. This is not an issue if you don’t really plan on using them when the light is very bad and it does have the advantage of making the binocular slightly smaller and lighter.
If you are worried, maybe consider the Nikon Action 10×50 Binoculars, which have a similar price tag, larger 50mm objective lenses, exit pupil of 5.0 and a twilight factor of 22.4 – making them pretty good in low light conditions. They also have a wider field of view and more eye relief – which is only really important if you wear glasses. On the down side, the 10×50′s will be bigger and heavier than to 10×40′s.
They have Multilayer-coated lenses, which is not bad, but could be better – I would have liked to seen them being fully multi-coated, rather than just multi coated which implies that most, but not all air to glass surfaces have been coated.
Conclusion
I would say that your choice of a porro prism binocular rather than a roof prism one at this price point is a good one – generally cheap porro prism binoculars are a little better as they are technically easier for the manufacturer to get right.
Overall, I would say that for their money about £76.69 (on amazon.co.uk)
Possible Alternatives
I am not sure where you live, but if it is in the UK, you may wish to consider the Barr & Stroud 10×42 Sierra (not yet available in the US) that I recently tested, the cost a little more about £91 (on amazon.co.uk) but I think for the amount make really good value.
I also already mentioned the Nikon Action 10×50 (view on amazon.co.uk
Categories: Buyers Guides, Cheap Binoculars, Nikon Binoculars | 
Tags: 10x40, Costal Views, Nikon Action, Nikon Action VII 10x40, Nikon Binoculars | 
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